USA > South Carolina > The Jews of South Carolina, from the earliest times to the present day > Part 18
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mander of the post in November of that year. He was seriously wounded at Fort Moultrie in 1862.
VISANSKA, GEORGE A., 20th Regiment, S. C. V.
WEISS, JULES, Beauregard Light Infantry.
WERTHEIM, BERTHOLD, Company G, 16th Cavalry.
WERTHEIM, HYMAN, lieutenant Company E, 8th S. C. V. Killed at Gettysburg.
WERTHEIM, JULIUS, German Volunteers, 1861. Hampton Legion, Bachman's Battery. V
ETHERHORN, LEVY, a member of the German Riflemen in 1861. Stationed at Morris's Island at the time when the Star of the West was thwarted in her attempt to supply the garrison at Fort Sumter. After ninety days' service with the riffemen, he volunteered in Com- pany A, German Artillery, taking part in all its cam- paigns and engagements. He was finally taken pris- oner by a Federal scouting party near Summerville, paroled, and soon afterwards the war came to an end.32
3 For obituary notice see The Courier, June 21, 1862. " Mr. Isaac Val- entine, after receiving his death-wound, stated that he felt no apprehen- sion of death; that he had done his duty, and that he had but one wish, that he might see his family before he died for his country."-The Courier, June 18, 1862.
31 The Courier, August 22, 1861.
34 Confederate Military History, Vol. 5, p. 908.
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THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES
WETHERHORN, MARTIN, Company A, German Artillery.
WETHERHORN, SOL., Company E, 25th S. C. V. Wounded at Petersburg.
WILSON, J. COHEN, Manning Guards. Hampton Legion. WITKOFSKY, J., Company G, 27th Infantry.
WITTKOWSKY, ADOLPH, Company C, 6th Regiment S. C. V., Anderson's Brigade, Longstreet's Division. Enlisted 1861. Wounded at Williamsburg. Four months. in prison at Washington, D. C. Permanently disabled. Promoted to sergeant.
WOLFE, JACOB, Company F, 23d Infantry.
WOLFF, W. M., Ist lieutenant Company G, 4th Regiment Infantry. Killed at Stony Creek. Was in command of company. Very brave.
ZACHARIAS, DAVID, Company C, 5th Cavalry. Killed at Mechanicsville.33
Markens in his book, The Hebrews in America, mentions the following Jewish soldiers belonging to South Carolina who are buried in the Confederate soldiers' plot at Rich- mond, Va .: E. B. Miller. H. Jacobs, Lieutenant W. M. Wolf (Hagood's Brigade), A. Lehman, Henry Cohen, I. Cohen (Hampton Legion).34
In addition to the above names of enlisted men there were many others, physically disqualified or above military age, who did duty in the Home Guard:
Captain Myer Jacobs, Charleston Guards ; " S. Hart, Sr., orderly sergeant; M. Ehrlich, 3d sergeant. Privates: J. Cohen, S. Cohen, C. Hyman, L. Rich, M. Rich, J. Triest, J. Volaski, J. Wetherhahn, M. Wetherhahn, E. Zachariah, J. Zachariah.36
33 Note .- This list could, of course, be largely extended, had account been taken of the sons of South Carolina Jews who fought in the war.
84 Markens: The Hebrews in America, pp. 340-1.
" The Courier, Jan. 11, 1861.
Ibid., May 2, 1861.
238 THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In the Regiment of Reserves, Company B, were: J. Blank, J. Furth. M. Hoffman, S. D. Jacobowsky, J. Rich, J. Seckendorff, A. Volaski.
Company C: N. Levin. 5th sergeant; M. L. Jacobson, 4th corporal. Privates: G. V. Ancker, S. P. Ancker, D. Ben- jamin, A. E. Colien, L. Cohen, R. L. David, M. Goldsmith, J. Goudkopp, A. J. Harris, J. H. Hertz, A. Loryea, B. Mor- decai, P. A. Moïse, P. Pinkussohn, George Prince, P. Wine- man.37
Company D: A. J. Moses, Ist corporal. Privates: M. Cordova, Eugene Esdra, Isaac Harris, Isaac E. Hertz, Rev. H. S. Jacobs, Morris Meyer, Sam Samson, Dr. J. R. Solo- mons, Leopold Weiskopf.38
Company E: I. S. Cohen, Abram Harris, L. J. Myers, B. A. Rodrigues, John Sloman.39
Company G: Nathaniel Jacobi, 1st corporal. Privates : G. Schwabe, M. Seckendorff.10.
Company H : J. Samson, 1st corporal.41
Other members of the Home Guard who are of record are: M. D. Cohen, M. Marks, J. Levy, J. Haas, and Edmund H. Abrahams.
In the large list of Jews here given, with three or four exceptions, every name has been positively identified, and with very few exceptions these records have been taken from original documents. In addition to these, there are hundreds of names of men who may or may not be Jews. These have been excluded from our list, as we believe that for historical purposes only such records should be given as are beyond question. Mr. Wolf in his book, The Ameri- can Jew as Patriot, Soldier and Citizen,-perhaps the great- est monument, even if least appreciated, of his services to
37 The Courier, Dec. 11, 1861.
40 Ibid.
28 Ibid.
39 Ibid.
" Ibid.
-
239
THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES
the cause of the Jew,-has given many more names, many of which we have not been able to identify, though many months have been given to the task, and it is with regret that we must leave them for future investigation. We must be satisfied, for the present, with the mere enumera- tion of the names of these men, the records of whom may be hereafter established.
James P. Altman, *Edwin H. Abrahams, 42 Barney Ball, D. Blankensee, A. Cashby, *Aaron Cohen, *C. S. Cohen, *Fishel Cohen, *Jacob H. Cohen, L. Daniels, Herman Drey- fus, G. Ellbaum, H. Emanuel, J. Emanuel, M. Fox, *I. L. Gunhaus, *S. Gunhaus, A. Hammerslough, H. Hammer- slough, *I. Heyman, J. D. Hornet, Emanuel Jacobs, J. J. Jacobus, Julius Joel, Joseph Josephus, *David Kahn, *Isaac Kahn, *Theodore Kaphan, Jack Leopold, Leopold Levi, L. J. Levin, Lionel C. Levy, Jr., Lionel L. Levy, Isaac L. Lyons, Jacob Manning, Nathan Menken, Daniel Moses, M. P. Moses, T. J. Moses, Jr., Julius Nathan, *Meyer Richard, Abraham Robertson, Charles C. Robinson, "Jacob Rosen- dorff, A. Simon, H. Solomon, J. F. Solomon, Isaac Sommers, Ad. Summers, William Sulzbacher, *Myer Wachtel, Henry Warner, Samuel Weiss, J. C. Wilson, D. Wolf.43
Besides these names there are on the rolls hundreds of names that have the appearance of being the names of Jews. For reasons already given these have been excluded from the list. They include such names as the following : Isaac Abrahams, R. Canter, Marcus Harris, A. Jack Jacobs, David Jacobs, J. J. Jacobs, Jacob Marx, A. W. Messer,
" Those marked * have been ascertained as having been in the war.
" Mr. Wolf, from whose lists the above names are taken, had other sources of information that are inaccessible to the author, and while many of his names may be erroneous, the majority of them are doubtless cor- rect. This volume, the reader is again reminded, is concerned with the records alone.
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THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
David H. Messer, E. H. Mintz, W. D. Mintz, W. A. Moses, H. Abraham Phillips, Gabe Phillips, Moses Samuels, Wade H. Samuels, Samuel Segar, Samuel Simons, S. J. Sloman, Simon Wolff.
Such, then, is the story as revealed in the records. It is, in truth, a remarkable story. If men are to be known and to be judged by their deeds, then can South Carolina boast of no more loyal and devoted sons and daughters than were her Jewish citizens in the hour of her need.
Theodore Kohn, 1840-1902
CHAPTER XIII-SMALLER COMMUNITIES GEORGETOWN, CAMDEN, COLUMBIA, SUMTER, AND OTHER PLACES
HE history of the Jews of South Caro- lina is, naturally enough, mainly the history of the Jews of Charleston. There are, however, several other com- munities of historical importance and of which the records have much to tell. What these records reveal we shall now proceed to narrate.
GEORGETOWN.
Georgetown is the second oldest Jewish community in South Carolina. Jews have certainly lived here since 1762.1 They probably lived here before this date. The records of Georgetown prior to the war are, unfortunately, destroyed. The earliest settlers, as far as our present information goes, were the families of Cohen 2 and Myers. We have no recorded data as to when the latter family settled there. A file of The Georgetown Gazette from May 15, 1798, to De- cember 28, 1800,3 contains the following Jewish references : Levi Myers-apothecary's shop; + Solomon Cohen-Tax
1 See obituary notice in The Georgetown Gazette, Dec. 13, 1800.
2 Sons of Moses Cohen, the first Rabbi of Charleston.
" Collections of the Charleston Library Society.
' The Georgetown Gazette, May 15, 1798, also July 24.
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242 THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Collector; 5 Moses Myers-Clerk of Court of General Ses- sions and Common Pleas ; 6 Nathan Hart; 7 Abraham Cohen -vendue master and auctioneer; 8 Levy Solomon; 9 L. Joseph; 10 Abraham Cohen-secretary Winyah Indigo So- ciety; 11 Jacob Myers; 12 Abraham Myers.13
In 1799 we notice Abraham Cohen as one of the Commis- sioners of Streets and Markets; 14 Lizar Joseph-Clerk of the Market; 15 Solomon Cohen, Ist sergeant of 1st Troop, 6th Brigade; 16 Isaac C. Moses ; 17 Mr. Sasportas-"agent for the French Republic at the time their cruisers were per- mitted to sell their prizes in this port." 18
In 1800 Woolf Aronson ; 19 Levy Salomon; 20 Moses Myers-Clerk of the Court of General Sessions; 21 Lizar Joseph-Clerk of the Market; 22 Abraham Cohen-Post- master; 23 Jacob Myers-captain of Winyah Artillery Com- pany; " Jacob Woolf; 25 "The Black-smith's Business, formerly conducted by Mr. Abraham Cohen, will in future be carried on by the Subscribers-Moses Myers, Jacob Myers." 26
In 1801 The Georgetown Gazette notes Levi Solomon and Lizar Joseph in partnership in the vendue and commission business; W. Aronson; 27 Solomon Cohen, Tax Collector, sergeant of Winyah Light Dragoons; 28 Jacob Myers, Post- master; Levy Myers, druggist; Lizar Joseph, Inspector of Customs for the Port of Georgetown; Moses Myers, Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas.
" The Georgetown Gazette, May 22 ..
6 Ibid.
13 Ibid. Ibid. 21 Ibid., April 5.
7 Ibid. 14 Ibid., Feb. 20, 1799.
Ibid., June 5. 15 Ibid., April 10.
22 Ibid., April 9.
Ibid., August 7. 16 Ibid., Nov. 13.
23 Ibid.
10 Ibid., Nov. 27. 17 Ibid., Nov. 13.
24 Ibid., April 26.
11 Ibid.
19 Ibid., Dec. 18. 25 Ibid., July 5.
12 Ibid., Dec. 4.
19 Ibid., Mar. 26, 1800. 20 Ibid., Dec. 24.
" His death notice occurs in the Gazette of Sept. 16.
28 Ibid., May 2, 1801.
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SMALLER COMMUNITIES
In 1799 a Library Society was instituted "for the gradual establishment of a library in Georgetown." Solomon Cohen was treasurer of this society. Among its members were: Levi Myers, Moses Myers, Abraham Myers, Jacob Myers, Abraham Cohen, Jacob Cohen, and Solomon Cohen. Aaron Lopez was a member in 1828 and Solomon Cohen, Jr., in 1829.29
One of the oldest existing societies in South Carolina is the Winyah Indigo Society, of Georgetown. Among its members in the early days were the following: Abraham Cohen (1786), Solomon Cohen (1791), Nathan Hart (1791), Wolf Aronson (1795), Moses Myers (1799), Levi Myers (1800), Lizar Joseph (1801), S. Joseph (1814), Israel Solo- mon (1822), Sampson Solomon (1824), Aaron Lopez (1830), Joseph Sampson (1859), and Samuel Sampson (1859).
Among the Intendants of Georgetown have been Solomon Cohen (1818-9), Abram Myers (1826-8), Aaron Lopez (1836), Sol. Emanuel (1876-8), L. S. Ehrich (1886-9).30
In the early twenties the Solomons family settled in Georgetown-Abraham, Joseph, and Molsey J. Solomons; and in the forties the Sampson family-Jack, Joseph, and Sam Sampson-settled there.
The present Jewish community consists of exactly a hun- dred souls. Among Georgetown's merchants to-day are: S. Brilles, A. J. Dundas, L. S. Ehrich, S. J. Flaum, S. M. Gladstone, S. Gold, J. Isear, E. W., H., and J. Kaminski, C. J. Levy, P. Lewenthal, Abe Moses, L. Riff, M. Ringel, Herman and Joseph Schenk, and J. M. Visanska. The Winyah Inn is owned and conducted by Isaac Butler. The community has recently suffered greatly by the removal to
" The original books and minutes of this Society are now in possession of the Winyah Indigo Society, of Georgetown.
30 See The Times, August 12, 1896.
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THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
New York of Marks Moses, who was an Alderman in 1892. The farewell banquet tendered to him by the people of Georgetown was a remarkable testimony to the esteem in which he was held. A congregation has recently been formed and is at present regularly ministered to by Dr. Barnett A. Elzas, of Charleston.
CAMDEN.
The city of Camden is the only city in South Carolina be- sides Georgetown where Jews settled in numbers prior to 1800. The earliest notice of a Jew in Camden District which we have found occurs in the Columbia records, in a document dated 1790, and refers to Mordicai Lyon. Cam- den still possesses some of its early records, but very few of the early newspapers are available. There are only a few references to Jews in the records prior to 1800: David Bush, 31 Samuel Levy,32 . Moses . Sarzedas,33 and Isaiah. Bush. 34
That there were Jews in Camden from an early date would seem evident from the will of Joseph Kershaw, made in 1788 and proved in 1792. "To God's Anticent people the Jews I give and devise the lot No. 315 for a Burying ground and place of worship whenever they may incline to to build upon the same. " 35 The Jews do not seem to have increased in numbers, however, and it was not till 1880 that an attempt was made to form a congregation-"Gemilath Chasodim of Camden." Lot No. 315, however, was never claimed, owing to the undesirability of its location.
31 Camden Mesne Conveyance Records, Book A, p. 5 (1791).
32 Ibid., pp. 98 and 176 (1793).
8.3 Ibid., p. 275 (1794).
34 Ibid., p. 152 (1794). It may be reasonably doubted whether David and Isaiah Bush were Jews. We have no information about them. The records show many of this name who were not Jews.
35 Will Book C, p. 62.
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SMALLER COMMUNITIES
There were several prominent Jewish families in Cam- den in the first half of the nineteenth century. Chapman Levy is mentioned in the records in 1807. Dr. Abraham De Leon advertises in The Camden Gazette of April 3, 1816 :
"Dr. De Leon (late of the Hospital Dept. of the U. S. Army) tenders bis services in the line of his profession to his friends and the Public.27 38
Hayman Levy's name occurs in the records in 1819, Jacob S. De Pass in 1831, Judah Barrett in 1832, and Mordecai M. Levy in 1836. The families of Levy were not related, but they were all of considerable prominence. Hayman Levy was Intendant of Camden in 1843 and 1844. Both Chap- man Levy and Hayman Levy fought duels with Camden men. Further notes concerning them will be found else- where in this volume.
The present Jewish community of Camden consists of about fifty souls. Among the leading merchants are: Mannes Baum, Gabriel H. Baum, Louis L. Bloch, Wm. Gei- senheimer, M. H. Heyman, Gus Hirsch, Jacob Hirsch, L. Schenk, and David Wolfe. Harry Baum is one of the largest planters in the county. Legriel A. Wittkowski has been Master in Equity for Kershaw County for the past ten years and is held in general esteem by the community.
COLUMBIA.
We do not possess any definite data as to the time when Jews first settled in this city. They certainly lived here in numbers early in the nineteenth century. Mills informs us that in 1823 the "Female Auxiliary Jew Society" was formed in that city "with the express view to assist in colonising the Jews." 37 Writing in 1826, he remarks that
36 Courtesy of Thomas J. Kirkland, Esq., of Camden.
8 Mills: Statistics of South Carolina, p. 434.
246 THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
"the Jews are forming themselves into a religious so- ciety." 38
The author has been fortunate enough to find a unique copy of the Constitution of the Hebrew Benevolent Society of Columbia, dated 1844, which contains a list of the early members of the community. This society was originally a burial society, established in 1822 for the purpose of main- taining a cemetery. It became the "Hebrew Benevolent Society" in 1826 and was incorporated in 1834. We repro- duce here for its historical value the lists of members :
RESIDENT MEMBERS.
Levy Polock,*
Philip Myers,
Phineas Solomon,*
Joseph H. Marks,
Jacob Levin,*
John Barnet,
Lewis Levy,*
Z. Harris,
Alexander Marks,*
Samuel Lopez,
A. Alexander,*
Myer Nathan,
Elias Polock,
D. C. Peixotto,
Emanuel Sampson,
L. Elias.
Henry Lyons,
Moses Rosenthal,
Jacob C. Lyons,
Maier Gattman,
I. D. Mordecai,
Marcus Goldburg.
MEMBERS WHO HAVE CHANGED THEIR RESIDENCE OR ARE DEAD.
Isaac Lyons," Dead,
Lipman Levin, R.,
Samuel M. Levy," D.,
Jacob Ezekiel, R.,
Isaac S. Cohen,* Removed,
Chapman Solomon, R.,
Abraham Lipman,* R.,
Levy J. Solomon, R.,
Judah Barrett,* R.,
Benjamin Mordecai, R.,
J. C. Peixotto, R ..
Solomon J. Barrett, D ..
Moses Hyams, M.D., R.,
Moses Davega, D.,
Isaac D. Marks, R.,
Humphry Marks, D.,
John M. Hirsch, R.,
Samuel Valentine, R.
38 Mills: Statistics of South Carolina, p. 722.
* One of the founders.
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SMALLER COMMUNITIES
LIST OF MEMBERS.
John Barnett,
I. C. Lyons,
H. S. Cohen,
L. Lilienthal,
S. A. Cohen,
M. Lilienthal,
A. N. Cohen,
E. C. Polock,
M. Celler,
D. C. Peixotto,
L. Elias,
S. I. Rozenburg,
H. Hess,
I. L. Polock,
S. Keeling,
I B. Polock,
I. Levin,
L. Simmons,
L. Levy,
H. Kauffman.
H. Lyons,
Columbia had thus quite early in the nineteenth century a large and flourishing Jewish community. Its Jewish citi- zens were more than ordinarily prominent, many of them occupying positions of civic distinction. Religiously, too, the Jewish community was an important one, being second only to Charleston. . Leeser's Occident contains numerous references to its communal activity in the forties.39 During the war many of the Charleston Jewish families refugeed there. The Jewish community to-day is small but pros- perous. It numbers about one hundred souls. It has re- cently built a synagogue, which will soon be ready for occu- pation.
SUMTER.
Jews have resided here since about 1820. The earliest settler, as shown by the records, was Mark Solomons. He was followed soon after by. Franklin J. Moses and his brother, Montgomery Moses. After the war the families of Moïse and Moses removed to that city, which families constitute to-day the greater portion of the Jewish popula- tion. Several Sumter Jews have attained great prom- inence. We have already written of Franklin J. Moses. Of the others we shall now tell.
3ª See, e.g., Vol. 7.
248 THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
EDWIN WARREN MOÏSE was the son of Abraham Moïse. He was born in Charleston on May 21, 1832, and died in Sumter on December 8, 1903. As a boy he attended the school taught by John S. Cripps, who was afterwards Con- sul to Mexico. At the age of fifteen he was obliged to leave school, owing to his father's lack of means. He worked for a while in a wholesale grocery in Charleston, and then went into the registry office, where he remained about two years, studying law. In 1856 he removed to Columbus, Ga., opening a law office in that place.
In July, 1861, he organized a company of one hundred and twenty men, fifty of whom he mounted at his own ex- pense, costing him $10,000, all of his little fortune. The company was named after him, and afterwards became Company A of the 7th Confederate Cavalry, Colonel W. C. Claiborne commanding, of which company Mr. Moïse was made captain. In 1863 he was made major of the 7th Regi- ment, and near the close of the war was appointed com- mander of the regiment, though he never received his com- mission as colonel. He was in the Army of Northern Vir- ginia, under General Robert E. Lee, and participated in the battles of Yellow Tavern. Brandy Station, Gettysburg, Five Forks, Averysboro, in the trenches at Petersburg, in the Battle of the Mine, and at Bentonville. With two hundred men he built the dams in Hetch's Run, in Virginia, near Petersburg, to protect Lee's left flank against Grant. He was also in the fight at the Davis House. At Gettysburg he received a slight wound. He was on the Hampton cattle raid, capturing 2,700 head of beeves from Grant in Vir- ginia, and in the attack on Kilpatrick's camp, which was captured.
One of the most dangerous performances in which Major Moïse was engaged was the burning of the bridge at Smith- field, N. C., in 1865, in the retreat of Generals Hampton and Butler from Bentonville to Raleigh, at which latter place
249
SMALLER COMMUNITIES
the last fight of those troops during the war occurred. Major Moïse was detailed with his regiment, the 10th Geor- gia, of General Butler's division and General Hampton's corps, to burn the bridge and cover the retreat of the troops. He fired it, and escaped amid a thick rain of bullets aimed at him and his command by the Federal troops, who were following him in hot pursuit. At the battle of Ben- tonville, on the third day, the extreme left of the Confed- erate line was attacked by a solid column of Federal infan- try, which was met only by a thin line of dismounted Con- federate cavalry. This line was instantly swept away, which would have resulted in the capture of Bentonville and the inevitable loss of General Joseph E. Johnston's army, but at the critical moment General Hampton rode up with his couriers, twenty-five to thirty in number, and immedi- ately dispatched one to General Hardee, informing him of the situation. Hampton then dismounted with his staff and manned a battery of artillery, which was used with such effect upon the advancing Federal line as to check it till Hardee's troops came up and drove back the advancing force. In this intricate and dangerous manœuvre Major Moïse bore a conspicuous part.
After the war was over he settled in Sumter, where he commenced the practice of law in the Provost Court, in which he was very successful. When he emerged from the war he had only one wounded horse, which he sold to pay the first month's board of his family in 1865. Up to 1876 he practised law, and in that year he was elected Adjutant and Inspector-General upon the ticket headed by Hampton. He was reëlected in 1878 and served until 1880, when he declined any longer to be a candidate. He was Presidential Elector in 1880 and served many times as delegate to State Conventions. He was never a Secessionist, but was a Douglas Democrat. He was a delegate to the Reconstruc- tion Convention which met in Columbia in 1865. Previous
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THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
to the breaking out of the war he took the stump in Georgia in opposition to the secession movement. In 1888 he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Congress and was defeated by only three votes, Colonel William Elliott, of Beaufort, being his opponent. In 1892 he was the Demo- cratic nominee for Congress from the 7th District, but was defeated by a Republican negro.
General Moïse, as he was familiarly called, was the type of what a good man and citizen should be. Brilliant as was his record in war, his record in peace was no less glorious. He will be ever remembered as the right arm of General Wade Hampton in Reconstruction days, who by his unselfish devotion to the cause, his many sacrifices, and his soul-stir- ring oratory, helped to redeem the State of South Carolina from the horrors of carpet-bag rule. True patriot that he was, he sought no political advancement for his services, and though he gave his fortune to the cause, he was content to live as a private citizen. His funeral was a remarkable demonstration of a people's love and affection and called forth the most eulogistic tributes from every newspaper in the State. We select only one-from one of the papers of his adopted city :
" It is given to few men of the prominence attained by General Moïse to be so generally beloved, to have so many sincere friends and so few enemies. And the enemies he had were made in the service of his State and country, and it was the principles that he represented and not his personality that made enemies, for he was one of those rare men who made friends easily by his spontaneous geniality and bound them to himself. by hooks of steel by his sterling worth. To the poor and needy he was a friend in deed, an ever present help in time of trouble, and he has no more sincere mourners to-day than are to be found among the poor and improvident-whites and negroes alike-who, when all others refused them, never appealed in vain to him who now sleeps his last sleep. His was a charity that was so broad that it covered a multitude of sins and he extended it to the unworthy as generously and freely as to the worthy, for he recognized the world-old truth that it is the un-
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SMALLER COMMUNITIES
worthy who are most often in the direst need. Yet he extended a help- ing hand to many worthy ones who were sinking beneath the billows of adversity and assisted them to gain a foothold on the rock of self-support and prosperity. His good deeds live after him and many are here to rise up and bless him. Generous to a fault, his benefactions were made while he lived and he died a poor man, as far as this world's goods go, but rich beyond compare in good deeds bestowed and kindnesses done in the name of humanity.
" His fame as an advocate and orator will live after him and his success at the bar was commensurate with his abilities. For years he was the admitted leader of the Sumter bar as an orator, and his reputa- tion extended beyond the borders of the State.
"When the true sons of South Carolina rose in their might to redeem the State from the hands of aliens, renegades, and negroes be was called to the front, and he did his part like a man and a patriot. The red-shirt Democrats of '76 still remember how he rode with Hampton from the mountains to the sea, and how his eloquence, his zeal, and courage in- spired them to stand steadfast for white supremacy and an honest government. To do this he abandoned a most lucrative law practice, and being elected Adjutant and Inspector-General in 1876, he served for four years, and declined reelection in IS80. Not satisfied with the pecuniary sacrifices he had already made, the deplorable condition of the schools of the State appealing to his sympathies, he gave all of his salary to the public schools the second year he held office.
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